Under Cover of Darkness
by Heligena
Summary: Laura's had a rough night. She's finally made it home even with her injuries but she doesn't want Carmilla to know so she tries her best to sneak in. It was a a one shot thing that popped into my brain but now we're somehow it just keeps going so there can be more if the people want!
1. Chapter 1

UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS:

It was the little bent screw that gave her away, not that she heard it herself.

It was just past one am when Laura pushed the door to their room open, keeping her right hand as steady as she could on the wood to keep that godawful creak it usually made from erupting. She'd always thought of it as sounding a bit like a mouth yawning in displeasure.

And that idea wasn't helping any with her mission right now.

Hearing nothing but the scuff of carpet, the blonde ducked her head down as she slipped into the gap, pushing the door back into place with a scraping relief.

It was only then that she snuck a quick glance at the far side of the room and saw the misshapen form of Carmilla buried under a thick winter duvet. Curled up in a mass of fabric and mushy limbs.

_For someone with seventeenth century manners she sure shakes them off when it comes to sleeping positions!_

The notion made her want to smile.

She didn't though.

Between the deep cut on her bottom lip that had almost stopped bleeding and the throbbing bruise flaring against her left cheek she knew better than to move her face any more than she had to. And with the accompanying tiredness tunnelling through her bones, she just wanted to go to bed and sleep off the nightmare of tonight without any more drama.

That wasn't too much to ask was it?

She hoped not.

Placing her satchel down gingerly on the end of her bed Laura debated whether she should just get in and sort herself out in the morning but she could feel the hard congealed blood still sticking to her face, the matted hair clinging to her temple and she knew sleep wouldn't be coming any time soon... at least not until she'd sorted all that out.

Besides, Carmilla couldn't see the state of her. Not looking like this.

That would just about put the icing on the cake- another raised eyebrow complete with a lecture on her complete inability to stay safe on campus.

_And it wasn't even my fault this time, _she thought wryly.

_Dramatic irony; table for one please._

Stealing another look across the dim room Laura sucked in a hard painful breath which stung the fingermarks around her throat and grabbed the nearest towel from the heater.

A five minute shower then sleep. That was the plan.

_No harm, no foul._

Rolling out her shoulders with a grimace she started to make her way to the bathroom. But just before she could get there, the spongy sound of movement hit her ears.

"Hot late night date with a weighty tome was it cupcake?"

Laura froze at the mumble that seemed to have emerged from the pit Carmilla called a bed.

Unsure how to answer, she simply swallowed dryly and tried to force a smile.

"I...uh...What can I say? I like my men like I like my books...old and leathery..."

She'd meant to sound airy. Playful. But even she couldn't fail to notice the tremulous tone in her own voice and cringed inwardly at the obviousness of the sound.

Christ, she should _never_ play poker.

Without turning, she still heard the distinct rustle of cotton behind her and knew then that her roommate was stirring properly this time.

And Laura panicked; blinking hard as she tried to work out what to do.

_Abort. Abort._

Her mind though felt like a mass of teeming worms, all curling inwards on each other in their vain attempts to flee any attempts at clear thinking.

"I...I...I'm sorry I woke you," she offered lamely. "...Thing is... I'm pretty beat so I'll just grab a quick shower and then I'll be out of your..."

"Wait!"

She'd only just started to move again but her feet skidded to a halt as an unusually serious voice hit the air.

"Cupcake- is there something you want to tell me?"

The room fell into silence for a moment and a hundred lies swam through the blonde girl's brain but somehow her jaw wouldn't work when she told it to.

And the truth was- she didn't want to lie to Carmilla. Not really. Hide things sure, but not lie to her face; they were... friends after all.

On instinct Laura bit her lip and whimpered at the hot-wet pain the action caused but she still managed to hold her muscles rigid willing herself not to be such a wuss and give herself away.

_She was a Hollis for crying out loud!_

"No..I...nope, everything's peachy. I guess I'm just a little tired from..."

"I can smell blood on you."

"Oh."

"Oxygenated blood- the kind that's supposed to be inside..." Carmilla paused, her voice grave. "Spilled blood."

"Oh well, I.."

" Plus you seem to have developed a lisp, as if your lip's bigger than it should be..."

In the dark room, Laura's head drooped as she realised she'd been well and truly busted. She should have known better than to try and play a creature of the night; that much was obvious. But she still refused to turn around and face the other girl. To look at those dark, critical eyes she knew waited for her.

So, fighting back the tears building behind her own, she stared miserably down at the floor. At the worn carpeting and the stains she could see even in the dim glow from the street.

"It's nothing."

...

"Nothing doesn't tend to make you bleed." Said Carmilla quietly. Almost tenderly. "That's generally the hallmark of Something."

As if she knew what she was talking about. As if she was...even a little worried?

_Or that could be the potential concussion talking._

"Ok not nothing then but...it's stupid and certainly not something we really need to talk about," threw back the shorter girl weakly.

Laura hugged her towel closer to her chest as she prepared herself for the onslaught when her roommate ignored her completely and launched into her usual tirade of 'told you so's' and those accompanying theatrical sighs she knew so well.

But just as she was tensing her muscles to deal with the imminent assault, a hand seemed to appear out of nowhere resting gently on the small of her back.

She almost squeaked in surprise, sending a wave of pain through her jaw but a second hand appeared a moment later and wrapped itself around her wrist, steadying her with five warm fingertips before she could jerk away. And then she was being twirled around, unable to stop herself from turning until there was nothing but darkness in front of her.

Deep brown waves of mussed up hair. Charcoal eyes that seemed to burn with some intangible emotion Laura couldn't quite decipher when she was this close to her.

And a black long sleeved tee shirt that seemed to fall endlessly to the floor.

Strangely the only light she could see came from those small patches of pale skin on display; a wrist here, the long sweep of Carmilla's neck. The white's of her eyes. Brief glimpses of her human face...the one Laura had so desperately wanted to hide from a few minutes ago.

The thought made the younger girl feel a little ashamed of herself.

The monochrome scene in front of her wasn't helping either.

Her head was pounding.

And she screwed her eyes closed for a moment.

"Are you hurt?"

The blonde began to shake her head from side to side but as soon as she reopened her eyes and locked gazes with the other girl her neck muscles seemed to stop responding to her. Refusing the lie she wanted to tell just to save face.

Sniffing a little, she finally gave a half nod instead.

Even that was enough to throw her equilibrium off though. Everything about the entire situation was weird and unsettling and the change of motion caused her to stumble a half step to her right, her left leg turning in on itself. Strong arms caught her in an instant however; at the elbows and waist, then guided her trembling limbs towards her bed.

Almost like they were her arms to begin with.

Matching perfectly.

The fingers on her wrist eased up a little.

"Let's just sit down for a minute ok?" offered Carmilla helping her onto the bed.

So they did. Wordlessly, barely an inch between them- so close that they could feel each other's breath in the frigid night air.

A slight hitch in rhythm although neither seemed to be aware of it.

A hush finally fell upon the pair then.

...

...

Neither one willing to break the silence until...

"...Laura?"

A small broken laugh flew from the blonde's mouth and Carmilla looked at her quizzically.

"...You used my actual name."

The brunette half-smiled in response, reaching a tentative hand out to brush a stray hair from Laura's forehead.

"Seemed like the appropriate time. No witnesses around and all that."

Unfortunately though it was just then that she brushed against the small gash over the shaking girl's eyebrow and Laura flinched at the shards of pain it sent tumbling through her spine. Almost immediately her roommate's demeanour changed into a concerned frown and she leant backwards behind them for the pullstring on the lamp to get a better look at the blonde's condition.

At least that was her intention until she felt a warm palm clutch at her wrist. Pleading and earnest.

"Carmilla?" Laura asked in a whisper.

"Hmm?"

"Could we leave the lights off? Just for a bit?"

Laura waited with held breath for the answer but then Carmilla was back next to her, her body strong and implacable allowing Laura to relax a tiny bit again.

"Do I get to ask why?" said the brunette.

"I don't want you to see me like this."

Carmilla froze unsure what to do with the statement and Laura recoiled at how that might have sounded.

"I didn't...that's not what I..."

"...I've seen a lot worse over the years, let me tell you."

"What I mean is...I don't want you to think this is my fault. I don't want you to be angry with me."

"Angry with you? For what?" said her roommate with a tinge of perplexity turning her head.

Laura tilted her own down. "For being what you always think I am. Idiotic. And weak. And...and just...pathetically mortal I guess."

Carmilla didn't say anything at first and then as the silence stretched out between them, and Laura felt her eyes start to moisten for the second time at how stupid she must have sounded and how she probably just proved her own point she felt movement next to her. Subtle, fluid movement so different to the clumsy haphazard ways she'd always gotten by with.

The next thing she knew there were fingertips gripping her chin with a delicacy she'd never experienced and her face was being guided upwards; those warm points somehow avoiding the cuts Carmilla couldn't even have known were there.

"Laura. You need to listen to me now."

"You said my name again," mumbled the blonde but the sombre expression that greeted her told her not to say any more.

Dark eyes pinned her down. "I have never...will never...think of you as _any_ of those things. Curiosity doesn't equate to idiocy; I know that better than most. And it's your passion that makes you who you are in this life." She blinked a little as Laura stared openly at her. "This age likes to tell us that if we become prey to something else, something bigger than ourselves then it's our fault. We were wearing the wrong clothes. Walking along the wrong street. That we deserved what we got. Well it's all bullshit. And if you say this isn't your fault then I believe you. Ok?"

Laura nodded again, this time without the accompanying dizziness and running on pure instinct brought her hand up to cover the one still holding her chin.

"Ok."

"And just for the record... I could _never_ be angry with you. It's like a law of the universe or something. You're just too damn cute- my brain would probably implode the moment it happened."

Laura laughed at that, ignoring the spiny twinge that shot through her cheek and finally allowed herself to lean into the other girl, letting the other side of her injured forehead come to rest against Carmilla's.

"Thanks Carm," she murmured.

The older girl smirked at the slight blush she could see on Laura's cheek. "You're welcome muffin... So are you going to tell me what happened?"

Laura sighed then and took a deep cleansing breath in. "Well, it all started in the library..."

TBC?...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: coz you guys were so awesome and lovely, here's a second part to the tale. Let me know what you think, if it's worth continuing, if you hate every word...all opinions appreciated (ps. I don't have a beta right now so all mistakes are mine and I apologise for each and every one) Also just so you know all likes/retweets on Tumblr are basically crack to me and lead to more of these kind of shenanigans (which I pretty much sneak in during work but don't judge me)... Anyways Rock on you amazing creampuff army...hope you like.**

**UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS Part 2:**

**By Heligena (come find me on tumblr or twitter)**

_PREVIOUSLY:_

_The older girl smirked at the slight blush she could see on Laura's cheek. "You're welcome muffin... So are you going to tell me what happened?"_

_Laura sighed then and took a deep cleansing breath in. "Well, it all started in the library..."_

...

Laura shifted awkwardly as her mind travelled back through the tortuous last few hours.

It was the last thing she wanted to do truth be told, everything inside screamed at her just to block the whole thing out but Carmilla had asked outright; hell, had cared enough that they'd ended up here, sitting close together on her bed and she couldn't quite bring herself to deny the request for some reason.

Sighing a little, an undignified kind of fatigue surging through her nerves along with the growing pain in her joints... not to mention something bizarre and indefinable that flared every time Carmilla leant a millimetre nearer, Laura found herself biting her lip.

"Well, I was doing a research paper in the library, in the Gladstone section you know with all the old original newspapers in the tall stacks..."

"This already sounds exhausting..." muttered Carmilla and Laura offered her a small smile though her stomach was starting to squirm again.

"It is when you're half a person and they only have one stepladder for the whole floor," she replied with lopsided grin.

...

_Strange._

She could have sworn she'd felt a shuffling beside her and Laura was getting the oddest impression that Carmilla wanted to say something about that...

But even though she waited for a moment or two nothing came out of the mouth next to her, the room was as still as ever and the blanket of quiet around the pair of them didn't waver.

So she forced herself to shrug it off.

Forced her mind to return to what had happened earlier though it was doing its best to tiptoe away onto other subjects.

"...Anyways I'd been working pretty solidly for like forty minutes on this really hard extract from Blake. _On Another's Sorrow_, do you know it?"

Carmilla shook her head in the dim light. "Not really, I think we studied The Clod and the Pebble once."

Laura's tongue flicked out to wet her lips for a moment. "I was just looking up a word from the first stanza when there was this weird sound that echoed downstairs in the foyer. It wasn't a scream exactly," she frowned, her brows knitting together..."more like a horrible mixture of a... a roar and a hiss."

"Not human?" said Carmilla, with a hint of apprehension.

Her companion stared at the dark carpeting for a moment with its randomly scuffed imprints. "No, it was definitely human. A girl... A girl who was clearly terrified and in pain."

"Oh."

Carmilla nodded sombrely to herself.

"Well, doesn't matter what century you're in, you rarely find one without the other."

It was such a small observation.

Nothing that hadn't been discussed multiple times by poets and philosophers over the years probably.

But it still took Laura by surprise. She'd never thought about it before, the connection between fear and pain but now...hearing it from Carmilla's lips, the longer she sat there listening to her breathe in and out with that unchanging rhythm the less she found that she could argue with it.

With the darkness behind that particular truth.

Twisting her head around to peer at the other girl, allowing herself just a moment to stare into the dark combative eyes that looked back at her almost hesitantly, her neck muscles started to scream as they tightened.

And Laura winced outwardly at the jagged twinge that roared through her spine.

At least until her stupid brain decided to go all out and remind her in a sober tone that everything she'd been through tonight, the hell of it…was absolutely nothing compared to all the horrors her roommate must have seen in her hundreds of years on earth. All the horrors she'd heard.

Felt.

Carmilla never spoke about it beyond the odd oblique reference of course, some throwaway line accompanied by an equally annoying sardonic grin but late at night when the other girl was out Laura had wondered endlessly, hideously on the subject. What nightmares the other girl must have witnessed. Or perpetuated.

Borne.

_Oh God._

Laura couldn't help it; she knew she must have major issues. Because her brain jumped straight to an image of the brunette trapped inside of a rotten old coffin, the wood around her knees and elbows decaying as the years went by but never quite enough to break. The rancid odour of rot and mould and flesh sitting on top of the blood like scum on its surface. Shrieking for someone, anyone to let her out so she could smell something other than her own reeking immortality.

Shame flooded through her without warning. At her own weakness. Her own inability to deal with one single night that threw a few cuts and bruises her way.

_Lame-ass Laura._

And suddenly she wondered if those awful kids in fourth grade had known something she didn't when they'd chanted that at her a week before spring break. Known something she'd chosen to ignore until right this second.

A familiar heat flushed through her system, slip sliding around her fingertips and in her embarrassment she turned away so that Carmilla couldn't see the burning behind her cheeks even in the muted light.

...

If her roommate noticed anything though she kept it to herself. In fact she barely moved except to tap a long pale finger on the duvet between them.

"I'm sorry you had to hear a sound like that."

She sounded almost apologetic.

But even as she faced the far wall, the blonde wrinkled up her nose with a grim laugh.

"That was the problem though."

The drumming paused and Laura mentally kicked herself.

_God damn it_. Now she was going to have to explain that verbal slip up too.

"It's just… I _have_ heard it before. It was a lifetime ago but still. Not the kind of thing you forget, you know."

She felt caramel eyes slide onto the left side of her cheek; dark and curious, full of questions but she kept facing forward unwilling to go any further back than the few hours she had to. It was too much to ask, a path too laden with thorns and muck so she pushed the dark thoughts away as best she could, breathing the complicated silence into her lungs instead.

"...What do you...?"

_No._

She couldn't face the question that was coming, Laura's thoughts were jumbled enough as it was and she panicked, opening her mouth before she'd even given thought to what she was going to say...and then...

"...When you were in the coffin... did you ever try and scream like that?..."

The younger girl clenched her muscles with liquid regret as the words fell out of her mouth. At her own ridiculousness. And bad taste.

_Jesus, what was she, insane?! _

But it was too late now. All she could do was sit there on the edge of the bed waiting for the brunette to throw her some caustic put-down. Or slap her hard in the face. Push her away.

Anything.

...

But there was no response.

Nothing.

Just breath and the thumping of the heating duct pulsing above them; tense and monotone.

Nothing at all.

At least until she felt the bed raise slightly underneath her thighs and she had to watch with a sinking heart as the other girl padded silently away into their shared bathroom, her silhouette mingling with the shadows in the room.

Then Laura found herself alone; felt the air around her drop in temperature almost immediately from the loss of contact.

Stifled by the fact that this whole thing was down to her and her stupid stupid mouth.

_Christ, this really was turning out to be the worst night of her life._

It was the next second that she caught movement again out of the corner of her eye.

And watched mutely as her dark haired companion crept back into the bedroom, a glinting metallic bowl resting in her cupped hands.

Tracking her with wide confused eyes Laura felt the mattress dip once more as Carmilla rested gently on the lip of her bed and placing the bowl next to her dipped something indiscernible into it.

"Carmilla I..."

Laura stopped talking in shock as a hand rose up from the bowl and the heel of it ever so carefully pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

Stopped breathing too.

Then she felt the first sting as a washcloth curled in Carmilla's palm dabbed at the cut above her eyebrow, smoothing the hard crusted blood away from her skin.

If she'd been speechless before now she was doubly so.

In fact she wasn't entirely sure she wasn't having some kind of stroke.

It seemed just as plausible as what was happening right now.

Maybe even slightly less terrifying.

Laura blinked nervously as she waited for the other girl to catch her eye but somehow her dark haired roommate remained impassive focusing on her temple, her gaze never wavering as she ran the cotton cloth towards her hairline.

Waited right up until she couldn't take it any more.

And she felt the words backing up on her tongue again.

"Carmilla...I'm so sorry. I had no right to ask I just...it's just sometimes my mouth isn't connected to my brain and I blurt out all these things I shouldn't," said Laura in a rush.

Carmilla still didn't look directly at her but the pale face seemed to soften a little as she pushed the cloth upwards gently.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere charcoal eyes hooked onto hers, the hand stilling and Laura's lungs emptying in response.

"I didn't."

"Huh?"

"I didn't scream," she explained patiently. "Not until...a lot later. It's kind of hard to with a mouth full of blood. I had to wait for the level to drop after I'd... you know, drunk enough of it."

Laura swallowed hard.

"It really would have been more of a gurgle anyway."

A small ironic smile played about Carmilla's lips and despite everything that had happened Laura couldn't help the tiny chuckle that escaped her mouth.

"I _am_ sorry," she mumbled again although exactly what she meant by that not even she was entirely sure. Carmilla however simply brought the cloth down to graze her cheek with the same tenderness as before and Laura for some unfathomable reason almost found herself leaning into the touch despite the sting.

"Anyway this isn't about me cutie," said the vampire in a steady voice looking down at the bowl.

Laura glanced at her.

"When does it get to be about you then?" she asked in a whisper and Carmilla tilted to stare openly at her with a questioning gaze.

"Next lifetime I guess. Maybe the one after that. Karma's a complicated lady."

It was said with the usual drollness but the undertone of sorrow ribboning her words hit Laura like a brick to the chest and she baulked for a moment as her ribs violently protested the movement. She thought she might have gotten away with it since she straightened up almost immediately but unfortunately Carmilla seemed to be as eagle eyed as ever and frowning, put down the washcloth to carefully place her left hand flat against the younger girl's side.

It sent a shockwave of gunfire through her.

"Someone really did a number on you didn't they?" Carmilla said worriedly.

The odd thing was that her hand felt warm even through the thin t-shirt Laura was wearing. And in some strange way the humid pressure of those fingertips splayed out against her muscles echoed the flutters and throbs moving through her ribcage.

Which was entirely disconcerting.

And not a hundred per cent unpleasurable...

"I know what you're doing," she murmured though, shutting down the sensation.

"Laura..." said Carmilla in a voice that contained a low warning.

"If you want to talk about..." The blonde tried to motion with her hands which was more difficult than it should have been for multiple reasons, "you know...this can wait, it's not like it compares to what you went through."

"Laura."

Carmilla was all seriousness now and she flicked her companion's side lightly for emphasis, although not enough to cause any real pain.

"Just because I was..._hurt_ once doesn't mean its ok that you are now. It's not a competition."

Frustration etched itself into her temple and her hand shook next to her as if it was fighting some kind of urge to stray. Letting the washcloth fall onto the duvet, the brunette pulled her hand away from Laura's side and brought it up to rest softly at her shoulder. "I don't want to hear that this doesn't matter. It does. You...matter."

Laura's skin was on fire. Not just at the point where it touched Carmilla's, under those five little dots but everywhere even at the spots where russet eyes flickered over it and she had to fight to stop a large smile breaking out right across her face.

All pain somehow forgotten for a brief moment.

Then she narrowed her eyes a little as her brain caught up with her body.

"All right." She said airily. "But while I may be injured but I still know a distraction technique when I see one." She tried to match Carmilla's stern expression. "We're coming back to this conversation."

A shadowy shrug greeted her.

_Not good enough_, she thought.

"...And just for the record, _you_ matter too. Despite what anyone might have told you in the past," she added, her tone warm but still brooking no argument.

Her brown eyes dared Carmilla to dispute what she had just said, almost begged her to but Carmilla simply stared at her with a neutral expression.

Laura could see through it though; could see by the slight twitch in that beautiful jaw that her roommate was a little taken aback by her words.

The girl had a good poker face no doubt but Laura was starting to see the chinks in her armour and she smiled inwardly when Carmilla finally caved; tilted her head and yawned.

"Whatever you say twinkie. You're the boss."

The older girl cocked her head. "Today at least."

And Laura nodded definitively.

Grateful for the small victory. Barely noticeable to anyone but the two of them.

But hard won and a little bit wonderful.

"So..."

Laura looked puzzled as she felt the hand on her shoulder blade softly drag down the material to her upper arm. "So?"

"There was a scream and then what happened?"

She smiled. "Oh right. Well, after I heard the scream, I couldn't see anything from where I was in the stacks and there's no signal in the whole of the library so I decided to sneak down the back stairs to see if I could work out what was happening. See if I could do anything to help but just as I went down the first few the overhead lights went out ..."

"Also are you gonna strip now or later?"

Laura's mouth dropped open as Carmilla grinned louchely at her.

"Excuse me?!" she squeaked, heart pounding again.

"So I can get a look at your ribs? I need to see the bruising to tell if it's a muscle injury or a fracture."

Laura gaped at her before her gaze flitted around the room. "And when did you spend seven years in medical school, huh?"

"1896, University of Vienna. And let me tell you- that shit was no joke when you look like an underfed teenage girl and dress like a wench from the Donaustadt district."

Laura didn't know what to say, her head was throbbing again, her mind reeling at the idea of taking her shirt off with Carmilla sitting so incredibly close to her. Logically she knew it was ridiculous- they shared a room for Christ's sake. They both changed in front of each other every day. As if it were nothing. But now...

Everything felt different. Exposed.

Her whole body felt like a bunch of wires that had been stripped back to reveal their insides to the elements and just the thought of Carmilla touching her even in an analytical, totally platonic way ...

"Hey."

Just as her mind was starting to spin out of control, Laura felt Carmilla slide her hand into hers and she glimpsed into dark patient eyes.

"I promise I just want to make sure you're ok cupcake. Trust me?"

Laura's brain was wheeling on it's axis but somehow against all the odds her head seemed to be nodding of it's own accord and just as suddenly she felt calm warm fingers brush against the hem of her t-shirt. Taking a deep breath in fighting all her instincts Laura slowly raised her arms, pushing down the jarring twinges that accompanied the movement and allowed her roommate to ever so slowly push the material upwards over her bra.

"Keep going..." she heard Carmilla whisper through her momentary blindfold and Laura bit down on her lip, grateful for the distraction.

"...So...so... right, the lights went out and it's basically just pure luck that I didn't fall on my ass all the way down..."

She heard a hiss of shock as Carmilla threw her t-shirt down onto the floor and must have finally seen the extent of the injuries criss crossing her ribcage and lower back but Laura forged onwards unwilling to stop now.

"And as I grabbed the handrail to steady myself, that's when I saw them. And I guess they saw me too..."

TBC?

**NB. Author's Fun Fact: The poem Laura mentions at the beginning of her story was from Blake's The Songs of Innocence and the one Carmilla studied comes from his Songs of Experience. Seemed fitting for their characters somehow. And thus ends this nerdy literary note! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/: So instead of doing my work I did this. Cool? Cool.**

**NB: I don't own characters, settings, or anything else from the fabulous world of Carmilla. Not even a sassy leather jacket. Boo. Oh and come find me on Tumblr or Twitter if you wanna hang or ask me any questions about the fic. I love new friends!**

**UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS CHAPTER 3**:

By Heligena

_RECAP:_

_Laura's brain was wheeling on its axis but somehow against all the odds her head seemed to be nodding of its own accord and just as suddenly she felt calm warm fingers brush against the hem of her t-shirt. Taking a deep breath in fighting all her instincts Laura slowly raised her arms, pushing down the jarring twinges that accompanied the movement and allowed her roommate to ever so slowly push the material upwards over her bra._

"_Keep going..." she heard Carmilla whisper through her momentary blindfold and Laura bit down on her lip, grateful for the distraction._

"_...So...so... right, the lights went out and it's basically just pure luck that I didn't fall on my ass all the way down..."_

_She heard a hiss of shock as Carmilla threw her t-shirt down onto the floor and must have finally seen the extent of the injuries criss-crossing her ribcage and lower back but Laura forged onwards unwilling to stop now._

"_And as I grabbed the handrail to steady myself, that's when I saw them. And I guess they saw me too..."_

"Jesus Christ."

Laura's nose did that scrunching thing as she took in the horrified expression on the usually stoic face in front of her. But before she could say anything, before her mouth came up with something even more damning than anything that had already slipped out she forced herself to glimpse down at her own stomach. She hadn't actually had a chance to assess the damage before now but even in the dim light she could see her pale skin was mottled with large patches of purple and yellow; the edges petering out into hazy grey. One particularly insidious inkblot ran from her naval round to cover almost her entire hip and that was the one she knew had taken the brunt of the fall earlier. She could feel it pulsing as she sat there; throbbing thickly as if all the blood in her body was pooling in that one spot for some kind of show.

_A freakshow, _she thought miserably. Not for the first time.

"How's the pain?"

Carmilla asked it quietly- unusually quietly for her but what could Laura really say.

_Totally devastating? Somehow hot but square at the same time as if there was a burning screwdriver punching a hole in her gut?_

_Like nothing she'd ever felt before._

Her eyes slid over to the brunette again.

"...I thought vampires didn't like taking the Lord's name in vain."

Carmilla caught her gaze and idly sniffed, though she also made it quite clear she knew her roommate had dodged the question.

"I'm pretty sure he has bigger things to worry about than the occasional outburst from one of the ants in the ant-pile, sweetheart." Dropping her eye-line again, she frowned. "Besides it's not like he's done a whole lot for me lately."

The dark blonde couldn't argue with that... not when her mind kept wheeling back to images of coffins and blood.

"Or you...apparently."

All her muscles tightened as a soft palm suddenly rested gingerly against her throbbing side.

"Laura, who did this to you?"

And there it was.

The question she'd been dreading was coming all evening; the one she'd hoped to avoid all together when she'd finally made it home and snuck into their room.

Out in the open finally and brimming with accusations, she was sure.

Except...

Carmilla's tone wasn't cold like she'd expected it to be. Not biting either.

In fact the growl behind her words that set off a mass of electric skitters rumbling through Laura's chest sounded a lot like... protectiveness?

Nope. It couldn't be though. She must be reading too much into things, right? Carmilla was just being considerate, making sure she didn't have a walking liability on her hands.

It was the only thing that made sense right now so Laura tried to ignore the sensation; tried to downplay the other warm hand resting on her knee and concentrated instead on hiding the flush building behind her cheeks.

Concentrated on something that was uncomplicated and uncluttered; something she could deal with.

She shrugged, "It wasn't a person...exactly. And to be fair they weren't...you know, _totally_ responsible for what this might look...which is probably like aesthetically worse than it is..."

Two soft fingers were suddenly on her lips, cutting the sentence off at its root and her brain froze.

"As cute as the babbling thing is, I need a straight answer. This..." Coffee eyes trailed gravely across her abdomen then flicked up again. "This is serious. You're hurt."

Laura winced again.

Couldn't help it when a thousand foggy memories of a woman's voice saying the same thing hovered across the bedspread under her knees. Of a slightly exasperated expression (although it had no face attached as far as she could see) and the resigned soft sigh that always inevitably followed. The sigh that told her she should be more careful. Should behave more like a girl.

Out of the blue the hand at her hip changed position drawing her out the memory and Laura's nerve endings fired of their own accord. But then the feeling of that warm, flat palm against her skin was replaced by something infinitely more delicate- five small pressure points pressing there instead.

In a way that was almost more gentle than anyone had ever touched her.

"Hey hey, stay with me," said a different voice, just as intangible but somehow firm as well.

Nope; not even the well-respected heroine of the local council Mrs Mary Hollis had touched her like that.

"Relax, muffin you're safe here."

And there it was again... the other voice. The one tinged with reassurance more than anything else.

And it was Carmilla, she realised as the room came swinging back into focus. Keeping her grounded.

With five fingertips that tapped her hipbone softly to emphasize the point.

Laura 's eyes blew wide. "Do you promise?"

...

_Crap_...

Her own voice sounded small and pathetic as the phrase slipped out without Laura meaning it to and she couldn't help smacking herself internally

No wonder everyone she met felt like they had to protect her.

Sometimes she'd used to wonder if she'd been a sickly woman in her past life, back in the Victorian era maybe; one who'd been prone to fainting spells when the weather turned. All petticoat and laudanum.

But then the set of small lily pads coasting her skin began circling gently near to her hipbone, drawing a soft comforting spiral pattern against the curve, surfing goose bumps that followed them. She forced herself to look up anxiously. Carmilla for her part was still staring down at the bruise blotted against her side but there was a small quirk to her lips that seemed to match their rhythm in some odd way.

She even seemed to be humming under her breath.

"So they saw you on the stairs..." she prompted inaudibly.

Laura's body relaxed a little then and she blinked. "Uh yeah. I was looking through the banister and the lights were still out, which I thought was weird coz how could they see me in almost pitch black, right?"

One of Carmilla's eyebrows raised and Laura wrinkled up her face.

"They weren't vampires."

"So you're an expert on our kind now? You know us inside and out?"

"No not at all!" Laura exclaimed, her skin still singing interrupting all thought processes. "I just...they didn't have any of the...the signs, you know."

"See , I knew it!" Drawled Carmilla though her fingers never once broke their dance. "It's the cape, right? The silk-lined cape always gives it away... "

And Laura let out an irritated giggle.

"Do you want to hear my story or not?"

That was when Carmilla held up a hand, a more serious look firmly back in place. "Sorry. Carry on."

Her roommate narrowed her eyes for a moment, assessing the sincerity of the other girl's apology in the shadowy dorm then nodded as if at least partly satisfied.

"There were no capes, ok. No grabbing, no biting. Nothing like that at all. There was just the girl, the one whose face I couldn't see and these two guys standing in front of her. And...and nothing about it seemed right. I don't just mean the scream. I mean the way they just stood there- it was nothing like Will or his band of kidnapping ass-holes. The pair of them, it's like they were frozen in place staring at her. As if nothing else in the world existed except for her face."

The pads surveying her skin stopped for a moment. "They were stood there looking at her? In the middle of the library?"

"Except for when they clocked me. But even after that they pretty much ignored me and went back to her."

"What did you do?"

Laura swallowed and set her mouth in a thin line. "What I usually do. Something really stupid."

She peered over and catching a glimpse of Carmilla's furrowed brow, bit the inside of her cheek before she could say anything else to make the brunette mad.

"I got my phone out of my pocket and slid it through the bars to see if I could get a picture of the one closest to me," she explained.

"And did you?"

Laura nodded woozily, a little of the old adrenaline buzzing through her system as she began reliving the situation. "I thought the backlight might at least get their attention off her if nothing else but it didn't seem to register at all. I did get a picture though. And since they weren't bothered, I decided to try and get a shot of her too. In case..." She hesitated as her own past logic reconnected with the nerve endings in her brain, "In case I couldn't... save her...then at least we'd have a leg up on finding out who she was."

Carmilla's hand dropped away from Laura's skin for a moment at that. The blonde almost whimpered internally at the loss of warmth though she didn't show it of course. Instead she fixed the older girl with an implacable stare.

"So I snuck back up to the balcony and ran round to the other side, to the ledge underneath the stained-glass window so I could get her and Psycho number two in the one frame."

Intrigue was written on the brunette's face. "How did you know..."

"It's where I took that photo of the campus choir from for the newsletter last year? Perfect lighting from the streetlamp outside, expansive angle- one size fits all," she replied with a small grin. "Best A I ever got for a photojournalism module."

"So you got all three of them on camera?"

Laura nodded again and enjoyed a brief flare of pride. "Yep. Almost stupidly broke my neck hanging off the window frame but I got the shot."

"That's not stupid. It's pretty impressive I'd say."

Laura grinned at the unexpected compliment though it made the side of her mouth flare. "And I probably would have agreed with you...right up until one of the loose bits of tile came off under my foot."

Concern quickly burned its way back into charcoal eyes.

"That got their attention all right when it hit the floor. I tried to get my footing back so I could get out of there but I guess they'd had about as many interruptions as they could stand at that point." Laura shifted anxiously at the memory but then fingers were sliding between hers; warm and comforting to keep her on track. Almost the perfect fit.

"What happened then?"

"Before I could pull myself back onto the main bit of the ledge, the two of them came running down the main hall towards me. At least that's what I figured at the time. I mean I heard their footsteps echoing on the marble but I had my back to them because I was trying to drag myself up on the brickwork. Then something hit the wall right next to my ear."

Her companion went deathly silent and all of a sudden Laura found that she was the one massaging Carmilla's fingers in an attempt to reassure her. She wasn't sure when that had happened. Not that it mattered of course.

"It was a book. I think it might have been a guide to Zen Meditation which is kind of ironic I guess but then there were more of them hitting the window around me. I was trying to be as careful as I could I swear but at one point I had to look round to see where they were and that's when one hit me here..." Laura pointed to the corner of her mouth with a sad smile. "And the next thing I know was something heavy slamming into my forehead...and...and I fell."

Carmilla's mouth dropped open. "Laura, that's a twenty foot drop."

The blonde girl gave a crooked grimace. "You don't need to tell me... or my spine. Luckily I landed on the clerking desk which took some of the impact but my hip landed on the edge of the returns shelf and it still knocked the wind out of me. And when I managed to roll off after a minute or two and everything started to come back into focus those two...things were standing over me."

An angry snarl erupted from the white throat next to her suddenly and she knew she'd gone too far.

Said too much. Just like always.

And juiced up with adrenaline, going on pure instinct Laura leant backwards, steeled herself for the insults and yelling that was surely about to come. All the accusations and disappointment she'd been waiting for since this whole sorry nightmare began because, well, that was always the way things went in the Hollis household. Concern followed by frustration and usually some grounding too. Holding her stomach muscles tight though it hurt like a bitch, she tried to hold her head up for the onslaught she knew was imminent.

But then... Carmilla shattered all her expectations in one fell swoop when she closed the gap that Laura had made, wrapped her arms tightly around the younger girl's shoulders and pulled her into an enveloping hug, one almost too big, too unrestrained for someone of her size.

For someone everyone on campus thought to be cool and uninviting.

Perhaps it was the fact that it was so completely unexpected. Or that it beat the hell out of a lecture and a bunch of finger-pointing which was what she had been anticipating.

But it was... just the most amazing thing she'd ever felt.

Carmilla's dark brown hair tickled Laura's nose as she gave herself up to the embrace and smelled wonderfully of pampas grass and orange groves. Even more distracting were the fingers scritching the small of her back in gentle, pulsing waves. Similar to the motions she'd felt on her hip but just as tender. Avoiding any other bruises she might have lurking there that they hadn't examined yet.

It was kind. And compassionate. Hell, almost...loving.

"So you're not angry?" she whispered hopefully, her breathing still erratic.

Carmilla burrowed into the side of her neck then, her lips a millimetre from pale skin which was definitely not helping Laura's breathing problems.

"Well it is true you could have been killed or worse..."

Laura froze for a second, "I..I know it was dangerous but...Carmilla, I didn't really have time to think up a strategy and I couldn't just..."

The brunette pulled back abruptly before she could finish her sentence and holding Laura's startled gaze pushed a lock of hair behind her ear with warm eyes.

"I'm not going to argue that it wasn't dangerous cupcake. But..." Leaning in again ever so slightly she positioned her mouth next to the humid shell of Laura's ear. "But...it was also brave and incredibly selfless too. So going on overall statistics, I'd say you're doing pretty well so far today ok?"

A laugh burst out of the blonde's mouth; a weird mixture of relief combined with something not quite so easily defined and the pair of them simply sat there smiling at each other a little bashfully.

At least before Carmilla reluctantly repositioned herself a couple of inches away again and Laura's eyes decided to ruin the moment by wandering down to those thin lips in front of her. Glimpsing at how soft and inviting they looked in the shadowy room.

It took Laura a few seconds to realise what she was doing before she glanced away.

_Double crap._

"See something you like Sundance?"

_Damn._

Her face flushed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Must be the concussion I guess. My focus is all off at the moment."

Carmilla grinned back at her knowingly. "Uh huh. Must be, right?"

She had no idea what she was going to say to that. But before she even tried to formulate a response though Laura's contented expression suddenly dropped causing Carmilla frowned in response.

" Oh my God. Their faces."

She stared at Carmilla.

"What about their faces?"

Laura scrambled away from her for a moment, ignoring the cloud of confusion from her roommate and dug through her pocket for something.

"I thought it _was _the concussion but their faces were..."

Pulling out her phone with a triumphant ha, Laura slid back onto the bed and opened up the screen in front of the pair of them. Scrolling through the menu to her photos she selected the last few that had been taken. And then there they were.

The figures from earlier.

The two guys; one with shaggy unkempt hair and an earring in his left ear giving him a piratesque vibe. And the other with a thinner frame, a longer neck and an undercut which made his face look far too slender for his body next to the mysterious girl. Choppy blonde hair for her. Slightly rounded nose. Not unattractive but obviously scared from the O her mouth was making.

All three so different to each other...and yet...

"What the hell?"

Laura looked over at Carmilla with trepidation as she realised she hadn't been mistaken earlier. That it hadn't been the head trauma.

"They all have the same face!"

Both of them looked at the pictures again for confirmation but the truth was right there in front of them.

The two guys and the girl from the library.

They all shared an identical face...

**TBC...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ok so sorry peeps had to move flat last few weeks so this update took longer than I planned. But we're still forging on and it's still a blast to write so massive thanks for all reviews and faves guys, you're awesomeballs. Please note- reviews really do keep me going so any thoughts always hugely appreciated. Peace in your crease. **

**UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS CHAPTER 4:**

For a moment they both stared down at the brightness of the screen and the glowing pale faces looking back at them. A set of rounded, undefined jaws with the hint of a dimple in the chin. Or what might have become a dimple if a smile had actually been present. That would have implied some kind of emotion though and it was precisely the lack of such a thing that made the two visages so completely eerie. As if they were unfinished. Works of art stuck in the opening stages without the necessary detail to make them real. Without the talent that turned a portrait into an actual work of art.

"Well Hell."

Laura nodded in sombre agreement before her gaze flicked back to the phone in her hand. Studying it brow furrowed as she remembered looking up at those awful vacant expressions.

Before her head snapped upwards as something dawned on her.

"Oh my God!"

Carmilla didn't have time to question what that meant before she was moving.

"My face..."

Leaping to her feet, Laura practically sprinted over to the oval mirror hanging above the dresser on the far wall and stuck her face as close to the glass as she could.

"Uh...What's happening?"

Laura barely heard the question as she gawked at her dim reflection, ignoring how wide her eyes were as she focused on the contours of her own face. The slight flush in her cheeks made them seem wider than usual somehow and she sucked in a breath as she brought her hands up to measure their breadth. It wasn't right. It didn't look right. Pulling her skin downwards next to her nose, she counted the smattering of freckles covering the area.

Five.

Was that right? Hadn't there been more before?

Her breath was starting to come in shallow bursts like bullets from her lungs but she fought the urge to put her head between her knees and tallied them up again with a fingertip touching each one gingerly. One, two three four...Five.

Definitely five.

Maybe that was ok.

It had always been five, right?

She wondered somewhere in the back of her brain that she was probably just overreacting but...but the memory of lying on the cold library floor with those towering figures standing over her shunted to the front of her brain obscuring everything else. The way they had looked down at her so blankly. So completely incuriously like she was nothing more than a design on one of the tiles.

The same way they had stared at that girl... as if she wasn't a person at all.

Laura felt a wave of anxiety surf through her veins and then her hands were back on her face of their own accord again, running over its mass of planes and imperfections. Over the almost invisible scar on her forehead where she had run square into a lamppost on Lambert Street and as a result the arch of her eyebrow didn't grow quite right.

Over the slight bump on the bridge of her nose.

All the stupid little things she'd hated so much growing up that now proved she was...still her.

Right?

As her dread built itself up into a burgeoning panic attack she was just contemplating the merits of chucking up in the bin next to her when she was shocked out of her reverie by a ghostly pair of hands sliding around her waist, the fingertips holding her securely in place.

Breathing hard Laura's eyes darted back to the smoky mirror in front of her and widened further as another reflection joined hers quietly.

"Hey hey cupcake, relax. You've had quite the night." Carmilla whispered.

And it helped. A little.

More than a little actually.

Carmilla didn't say anything more as she moved to cross her arms softly across Laura's torso anchoring the pair of them together, her warm body pressed up against the smaller girls back. Her chin almost resting on the crook of her left shoulder blade. As if they were made to slot together this way.

They both stood there then, peering at their shared mirror image in the glass in front; the dark blonde entranced by the calm exhalations that tickled the back of her neck and her companion focused on the way her wrists moved against the shallow breaths her roommate was still taking.

"You wanna explain?" she asked evenly.

They caught each other's eye and though she didn't really want to move from the calming embrace she was being held in Laura slowly dragged herself round to face her roommate, any new embarrassment drowned out by the coastal surge of terror mingling with it. Carmilla's arms still locked securely around her back.

"My face..."

Carmilla blinked at her, clearly unsure as to what she was getting at.

"It's still..._my_ face right? Like, my face. I mean, the same one I had this morning?"

She wasn't sure she'd ever asked such a bizarre question in her whole entire life but Laura's eyes still flicked between the dark ones in front of her for confirmation. And everything suddenly clicked into place for Carmilla. Laura's freak out. What she'd just said about those weirdos standing over her in the library.

She might have laughed at the absurdity of the whole thing once upon a time. Might have scoffed as she usually did, if the fear hadn't been so genuine and so present in those large eyes looking back at her. And actually, the more she thought about it, the more she pictured the younger girl lying there in agony in the foyer alone, with no-one aware of where she was, unable to defend herself even, the less ludicrous Laura's panic seemed.

In fact, it was kind of justified.

More than.

The anger coiling in her gut was proof enough of that. Acidic and more than a little biting.

Carmilla kept the growl at the back of her throat.

That wasn't what Laura needed right now. The brunette had witnessed enough terrified people in her life at their lowest ebb to know that rage was the thing that usually pushed them over the edge into complete madness. Even when the anger was totally justified and came from those trying to protect them

So she swallowed her own emotions as best she could and released one of her palms so that it could reach up to cup the right side of Laura's trembling face. Fingertips at the edge of her forehead, palm cradling her chin.

"It's totally your face. One hundred per cent Hollis charm. Or what passes for charm these days..."

Laura didn't respond, though she at least seemed to be listening as her heart hammered against Carmilla's chest.

So the older girl went all in and let her thumb caress the edge of the blonde's cheek.

"Laura, trust me you're fine. This face..." Her other hand slid upwards to rest against her neck, "is as infuriatingly cute and irrepressible as always. Downright adorable some might say. You know how I know?"

The other girl gave an imperceptible shake of the head and Carmilla's lips tilted upwards.

"Because you're doing that scrunchy nose thing you always do when you're trying to get a handle on something. The one that's kind of endearing and ridiculous at the same time." She gave a full grin then. "Like a baby piglet learning to snort for the first time."

Laura looked at her properly then in the gloom, the comment bringing her out of her reverie. "Gee. Thanks."

"It's the answer you were looking for right?"

Laura glared at her an inch away with a deadpan expression. "Not exactly."

And Carmilla could barely contain the second grin fighting to break out on her face. "Not spinning out anymore are you though?"

Laura went to say something in response to that, something probably a little more uncouth than usual then stopped as she realised the brunette was right; her heart-rate was nowhere near as loud as it had been though her nerves were still sending jolts of electricity up and down her arm. Recognising that she had no comeback at all, Laura closed her mouth with a sheepish bite of the lip.

"...I guess, you might have some semblance of a point there," she grumbled.

And low moonlight suddenly rippled across the pair of them as if it agreed.

Given the abrupt change in tone, Laura expected Carmilla to loosen her grip on her hip as her breathing began to even out but to her surprise, for some reason she didn't. The other girl simply stood there, her one hand remaining in place against her side as the other held her face moving only to brush a rogue hair away from her eye line. Causing Laura's stomach to jump into her throat again.

Brown eyes met charcoal with a jolt.

"..Guess it _was_ quite the night, huh?" Laura said shakily as Carmilla looked directly at her, the words that usually came so easily falling into the dark recesses of her brain all of a sudden.

Carmilla simply tilted her head.

"Yup. "

She pursed her lips at the end of the word and the small motion caught the whole of Laura's attention for a moment. So much so that the blonde's tongue snuck out to lick her own lips surreptitiously as the pair of them remained motionless but she still refused to drop her gaze this time preferring to hold her ground instead.

Almost daring her roommate to move closer.

To do something else new and unexpected.

Which she did.

Ever the rebel.

Ever the insurgent.

As Carmilla's taller frame leant in slightly, Laura felt the tips of dark hair tickle her throat before anything else registered in her frazzled brain and her breath caught in her throat as pale skin filled her vision the next moment.

She could smell the apple and cinnamon fragrance of Carmilla's shampoo now and it ignited the pool of warmth lolling around in her stomach though the brunette hadn't seemed to notice. If anything she seemed to be in some kind of trance as she breathed close to Laura's slightly open mouth, her shoulders held rigid with a new kind of tension that hadn't been there a minute ago.

Sharp collarbones visible under her black t-shirt.

A counterpart to the delicate wrists already a centimetre from Laura's skin.

So feminine and defiant at the same time.

And strangely comforting too.

Then, just as Laura's eyes began to close of their own accord, her senses overwhelmed by the hum of the flesh in front of her she felt Carmilla stall for a second.

Eyes snapping open again, she watched confusedly as Carmilla stared back at her with a tinge of sadness.

"I think you...you need to get some rest cupcake."

"I...what...no..." stuttered the blonde but her roommate was already taking a step back to relieve the space between them and cold air flooded Laura's chest.

Shrugging with a heavy smile she threw her hands up. "I'm fine. I'm all good, see. There's no more crazy I swear."

The brunette however was rubbing the back of her neck as she raised her chin, almost as if she were weighing something up in her brain.

"While it's good to know your usually inexhaustible supply of mental-ness is on the wane, you know I'm right. You need to sleep. Heal a little."

Laura could have laughed. Or screamed.

Because as if on cue, the aching whinging cacophony of pains from her hip and face took the opportunity to come screaming back as the sentence fell from Carmilla's mouth causing Laura to rock back on her heel and wince visibly. Whether it was at her roommate's ridiculousness or her own body's betrayal she wasn't quite sure though.

And not that it didn't stop her from trying to push through the onslaught by shaking her shoulders out without the inevitable grimace that followed.

"I'm not an invalid Carm. And those things are still out there." She frowned, trying to bury the hurt tone in her voice. " How am I supposed to sleep knowing they could be going after someone else right now?"

It was a fair question but one that didn't seem to surprise the brunette. In answer Carmilla reached down and slid her fingers in between Laura's, gripping them as the blonde tried limply to extricate hers.

"Those things chose the middle of the night to make their move. Which suggests either they're nocturnal or they have an aversion to crowds of people being around when they're doing...whatever the hell they're doing. Either way I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that campus is safe for the next twelve hours or so."

Nodding towards the window, Laura followed her gaze and saw a set of faint pink streaks painting the night sky. Dawn was coming.

She so desperately wanted to argue though. That they couldn't know that for sure, that that was nothing more than conjecture. But now that her adrenaline was burning low, her spine was grumbling with pain alongside the rest of her and as much as she wanted to deny it, just holding herself up was becoming a bit of an issue.

Had she been swaying on her feet?

Was that what had tipped Carmilla off? God, she hoped not. That would just be too embarrassing to contemplate so she turned back to her roommate and narrowed her eyes.

"So assuming you're not a hundred per cent wrong about that...which is not _impossible I suppose_...what are you suggesting?" she asked quietly.

Carmilla shrugged then, as if she hadn't thought that far ahead. "We get some sleep. Then I guess research mode this afternoon. See if we can identify these things. Give them a name at least."

Huh.

Laura had read once in an old mediaeval text that people used to believe that naming something gave you power over them. Demons. Enemies. Even lovers.

It had seemed like a ridiculous notion- cheap and unlikely but one the lower classes had clung to with everything they'd had from what the book had said. At least that's what she'd thought at the time. But now, considering what little she knew of Carmilla's past- the hundreds of rural superstitions she must have been brought up to believe in, the horrors she'd seen with her own eyes over the last century... and bearing up under the weight of her own criss -crossing aches and pains, the idea that they might soon be able to give those creatures a name filled Laura with a weary kind of relief. And it was a plan of sorts. Vague but doable.

More than she'd come up with.

You had to do these things one step at a time, right?

Debating with herself in her own head, Laura finally realised that she'd zoned out and stared down at their still linked hands as she settled back in the shared room. "Ok, fine. We'll do things your way."

Carmilla smiled, "Good stuff."

Softly untangling their fingers, she winked at Laura as she started to make her way over to the messier side of the room, pulling back her covers in one rough movement.

Laura for her part could only stare miserably at her own neatly made bed, the bowl of water still sitting primly on the duvet. Now that she was allowed to relax a little and tiredness was seeping through her bones, the thought of crawling into the cold sheets on her bed kind of filled her with a new anxiety she wasn't quite sure she could put a finger on.

All she knew was that she didn't want to be alone right now.

That it wasn't cotton she needed next to her skin.

"Uh...Carm?" she said hesitantly, her brain screaming at her to shut up before she made a complete fool of herself.

"Mmmm?"

She watched the other girl pull off one boot with impressive force, managing somehow to stay upright with the kind of grace Laura could only wish for.

Her resolve began to crumble. Even as her body started to lose the energy to hold itself up.

"Um, nothing. Never mind."

There was a thud then as the second boot hit the floor and Laura coughed awkwardly as she tried not to stare.

When the brunette turned to glance at her she looked away towards the window and the growing dawn again.

"Creampuff... you're already shirtless whatever it is you can just ask."

Laura looked wearily down at herself and blushed as she realised she was indeed only wearing her bra. Crossing her arms over herself, she couldn't help hopping from one foot to the other as she fought her two warring instincts about whether to ask Carmilla to sleep in her bed with her.

Whether she needed another excuse to make herself look like a total idiot this evening.

She was already batting a hell of an average after all.

Just as she made up her mind to girl the hell up and go slink under her duvet for the night, she caught a glimpse of Carmilla standing next to the bed she'd just gotten ready for the night.

"So are you gonna stand there all night or are you getting in?" she asked neutrally holding up the corner of the duvet.

A strange catch in her voice.

Her mouth dropped open. "I...uh..."

Carmilla shook her head as she realised Laura was still fighting some kind of mental battle with herself, even with the offer right there hanging between them like uncut rope.

Breathing out, she swallowed and tried to appear nonchalant; though truth be told it was getting harder the longer the evening was going on.

"Look, I don't think those things are going to be a threat tonight but just in case I'm wrong...which I _never_ am...but just in case, it'd make more sense for the both of us to sleep this side of the room where we have a clear view of the door."

_That was smart. _

Laura offered up a grateful smile which Carmilla nodded at.

"And you'll warm up quicker if there's two of us," she added.

_Logical_.

"...And... my mattress is softer than yours, it'll be easier on your bruises."

Ok, that one was a little less convincing. They both knew the university had bought a bulk load of mattresses from the Mattress King warehouse across town, each one exactly the same as every other. Hell they'd had to unwrap them themselves at the start of term before they could put the sheets on. The hallway had turned into a boiling sea of plastic wrap which had taken days to clear.

All of this crossed the blonde's mind as she smiled over at her fidgeting bunkmate and her chest couldn't help expanding as she noticed the barest blush on the cheeks across the room from her.

Carmilla _wanted_ her to sleep in her bed.

The thought made her feel dizzy and euphoric all at the same time but she didn't want to prolong the brunette's awkwardness anymore so she stopped her brain from descending into why Carmilla might be making such an offer, nodded back in the same offhand manner and wandered across to her bed to grab the wrinkled Sunnydale t-shirt she usually slept in.

Delicately pulling it over her head with as small a whimper as she could manage, determined not to need any help with at least one damn thing this evening, she pulled her hair free then padded over to Carmilla's side of the room.

Coming to a halt, she blinked looking down at the grey sheets.

"Um, do you have a side you prefer?"

"Whichever side means I don't have to stand here freezing my ass off any longer than is actually necessary."

Laura giggled at the barely disguised grouchiness as she crawled underneath the duvet Carmilla was still holding then lay down gingerly on her back feeling the surge of grey static pain worm its way up each vertebrae.

She felt the mattress dip as the older girl slid in next to her and did her best to keep the scowl off her face at the movement.

"Sorry," said a small voice next to her and despite the wave of lethargy that was abruptly rolling over her skin Laura let the fingers of her right hand skirt the flat plane of the bed sheet underneath them until they found another set.

Linking pinkies with Carmilla she dragged her bottom lip underneath her front teeth.

"Please don't apologise. You've been..."

She searched for the right word as patterns of light started to circle the ceiling overhead making her eyelids flutter of their own accord. Slow tired flicks she didn't seem to have any control over.

_Amazing? Kind? Wonderful?_

"...Everything," she said drowsily too tired to even worry about how stupid that sounded.

If Carmilla noticed she didn't comment but Laura could have sworn the brunette was grinning up at the whitewash ceiling above to her right for some reason.

As it was she could barely keep herself awake anymore, not now that she was warm and comfortably wrapped in the thick bedding around her.

In fact she didn't think she'd ever felt anything quite so wonderful in her whole life.

Lurching over onto her good hip in an effort to take the weight off her back, she cracked an eye open briefly to make sure she wasn't close enough to headbutt the wall then slumped down gratefully.

Breathing in the soft scent of Carmilla's surprisingly clean sheets.

Listening to familiar hum of the air conditioning unit.

Falling into that colourless space behind her eyes.

Barely aware as a warm arm snuck across to lay over her stomach; an inch or two above the contusions on the only place that wasn't sore.

As if it knew exactly where it was supposed to be.

"Carmilla?" Laura whispered then hazily, as she felt warm breath burrowing into the back of her neck offering her a rhythm to match her own.

Carmilla groaned with exhaustion. "What is it this time, Creampuff?"

"Do you think maybe they were just a bunch of weird looking triplets?" came the mumble as Laura buried her face into the pillow.

The brunette rolled her eyes, though in the lessening darkness in the room the gesture had no discernible point.

Laura couldn't see it but she could tell by the sound of eyelashes flicking against fabric that Carmilla was mocking her.

"What?"

"Nothing. Do you ever think you might be spending a little too much time with that Perry girl though?" said Carmilla with a yawn.

It _had_ been a stretch. To be fair triplets wasn't the first thing that had popped into her brain lying there in agony on the cold marble tiles of the library foyer. _Holy fucking hell I landed in the Overlook Hotel _had been. Technically.

But right now all that seemed to have happened about a hundred years ago as Laura fell asleep almost immediately, enjoying the comforting weight of her roommates arm resting over her and the foot hooked neatly underneath her own.

As if everything was in its place.

As if everything might just be ok...

TBC...


End file.
